monkey's paw
A situation in which a wish or desire has been fulfilled, but at significant cost or with ironic, usually unfavourable consequences.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Getting that promotion was a monkey's paw for my free time.”
“He finally won the lottery, but it became a monkey's paw when greedy relatives started demanding money.”
“The new law promised economic stability, yet it proved to be a monkey's paw that stripped away essential civil liberties.”
first recorded 20th c.
From the 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs. In this narrative, a family acquires a mummified monkey's paw enchanted to grant three wishes, a provision which results in ruinous consequences for the recipients. The item functions as a mechanism for granting a desire in a manner that ensures the wisher regrets the acquisition.
The term gained wider contemporary recognition following the 1991 episode "Treehouse of Horror II" of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The episode included a segment based on the Jacobs story, maintaining the premise of a wish-granting paw that delivers misfortune alongside the fulfilled request.
Last updated August 10, 2026